Big Brother Instinct
by Kal-El Fornia
Summary: The Hawke brothers may not like each other all that much, but they are willing to do whatever it takes to protect their apostate sister Bethany, even if that means murdering Templars.


I had an idea about what the Hawke brothers, as much as they dislike each other, would do to protect their sister whom they both seem to care for very much. What I wrote is something that I don't think is very far off from what they would do for her.

Disclaimer: Dragon Age belongs to Bioware and its EA overlords.

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Ser Henric was making his way back to Lothering after a hunting trip in the Korcari Wilds to locate one of the infamous witch of the wilds, which would be his last before he was to set off on a quest to search for the Urn of Sacred Ashes. It was mostly out of tradition that he did so since he believed that if there existed something like one of the witches of the wilds that they would have been something of another Age other than the Dragon Age. He was tired and felt that perhaps it would be time to find a place to sleep for the night soon, and he walked on while keeping an eye out for a good campsite. He stopped after a few minutes though when he heard two familiar voices arguing.

"You're such an idiot, Carver." came the first voice.

"Yeah?" Carver replied. "At least I'm not a thieving jackass like you."

"It couldn't have been stolen from you if it was never yours."

"You knew I had my eye on her."

"And? You can still go after her. I was just sampling the goods, baby brother."

"I hate you."

"She didn't."

The two voices continued arguing like that for a few minutes as Ser Henric waited for it to stop since he felt it would have been awkward to stumble upon the two while in the midst of them volleying insults back in forth, but as soon as it was clear that the two boys really weren't going to stop any time soon, Ser Henric took in a deep breath and headed to where the voices were coming from.

"Well if it isn't the Hawke brothers!" Ser Henric announced as he walked into their camp area, thinking that hopefully the two of them would let him stay there for the night.

"Well what do you know," Carver smirked as he looked over at the older Hawke, "if it isn't our favorite Templar?"

Ser Henric waved it off. "We all follow the paths that the Maker sets before us."

Hawke, as was what the older brother simply went by ever since poor Malcolm died and he became the man of the house, was polishing a bloodied sword. After a moment he paused and met eyes with Ser Henric, before he jerked his head towards a nearby stump. "You look tired, Ser Henric. How about you sit and eat with us? Carver was just about to cook up something tasty. I mean, he's no Bethany when it comes to cooking, but hey, at least he's good for something right?"

Ser Henric looked over at Carver who was stoking the fire since in his experience back in Lothering it didn't take much for the Hawke brothers to be at each others throats, but curiously enough Carver only grunted and went back to tending to the fire.

"Yes, Bethany is a sweet girl," Ser Henric admitted as he went over to the stump that Hawke had motioned him over to. "I don't think I've ever seen her miss a Chantry service. The Revered Mother simply adores her." the Templar paused as he considered whether or not to bring up what came to mind. "Speaking of which, Hawke, I can't say that I've see you around the Chantry lately."

Hawke shrugged. "It's the damnedest thing, every time it's time for a service I just get the most terrible headaches. I wonder what it is?"

Ser Henric looked at him skeptically. "I wonder."

"So," Hawke decided to continue on as he lifted up his sword a bit and inspected the blade, "if you don't mind my asking, what's it like to be a Templar?"

Ser Henric sat up a bit straighter, always doing so when talking to a possible recruit. "You thinking of joining the Order, Hawke?"

Hawke didn't look at the Templar and simply lowered his blade a bit as he then turned his head and stared into the fire that his little brother was stoking. "I've just always wondered what goes on in the mind of a mage-hunter."

The Templar slacked a bit, but narrowed his eyes at Hawke. Hawke had always been known around Lothering for his propensity to make a joke about everything and anything and for always being at odds with his brother, not for anything as philosophical or harrowing as were the duties that the Maker had set forth for his faithful. He didn't answer at first, and then Ser Henric turned to look at Carver. Like his brother, Carver was silent as he stared into the fire, more contemplative than even other Templars in the Order.

"Well," Ser Henric began, "my job is more then just tracking down apostates and slaying maleficarum. If even just one in ten mages fall to the temptations of blood magic, they can destroy this world."

Hawke said nothing at first, instead staring intently at the fire Carver had started, before he sat up and went back to examining his blade. "How does that one sermon go about apostates, Carver?"

Carver looked away from the fire and over at his brother before he sighed. "Those mages who honor the Maker and keep His laws we welcome as our brothers and sisters. Those who reject the laws of the Maker and the words of His prophet are apostate."

Hawke stood up when Carver stopped, and continued from where his brother left off. "They shall be cast out and given no place among us."

Ser Henric stood up as well, and became slightly wary of Hawke since the young man was slowly but very meaningfully walking in his direction. "I didn't know that the two of you boys were so pious."

Hawke simply glared at Ser Henric. "We aren't." he said, as he swung his greatsword at the Templar.

The sword cut against his Templar armor, but luckily it didn't get any deeper than that. Ser Henric tripped and landed backwards, and he reached to unsheathe his sword as he tried scrambling on the ground. He didn't get much farther than that though when he felt another sword, Carver's, dig into his shoulder. He yelled out in pain, and pathetically tried grabbing at his sword once more with his other arm before Hawke simply kicked it away.

He took in a deep breath as he felt Carver twist the sword that was dug into his shoulder, and then opened his eyes and stared upwards when he felt Hawke's sword being pressed against his throat. The normally prankster Hawke was glaring right back at him with eyes that he had never seen the young man give to anyone before, eyes filled with hate.

"Why?" was all Ser Henric could muster as Hawke firmly pressed the sword, letting a bit of blood trickle from his neck.

Hawke looked over at his little brother who nodded in response, and then after a moment, Hawke looked back down at Ser Henric and dug his sword just the tiniest bit deeper into Ser Henric's neck. "Mother heard you speaking to one of the lay Sisters after a Chantry service last week. You told her that you suspected that an apostate was hiding in Lothering."

Ser Henric tried to say something in response, but found that he couldn't speak with the way that Hawke was pressing the sword. Instead he just listened as Hawke spoke the final words that he would ever hear.

"We will never let you have Bethany!" Hawke shouted as he lifted his sword in the air. Ser Henric's eyes widened in realization that the apostate that he had been searching for was the sweet and pious Bethany, and it was the last thought he ever had as Hawke decapitated him.

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If you guys don't remember, Ser Henric is the dead Templar you find right outside of Lothering when you play Origins. I'm glad that I've been writing more Dragon Age. I have a bigger story than a one-shot in mind which is like a play through of Origins, but with a communist twist to it. We'll see if I write it.


End file.
